


Spring Fever

by kunstvogel



Series: Snapshots [4]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 05:38:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14664411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunstvogel/pseuds/kunstvogel
Summary: Dick catches the flu.





	Spring Fever

**Author's Note:**

> As you will figure out, I wrote this in April. The weather is still crazy, but at least it's not snowing one day and seventy degrees the next anymore. Now we just have tornadoes. Yayyy. Seriously, the midwest has its own climate.

"Aw, come on," Lew groans, and Dick turns to look at the other boy.   
  
"Snowing again?" he asks, scrubbing at his hair with a towel.   
  
"Yeah," Lew grovels, letting the curtain back. "It's April, dammit. It should be raining, not this bullshit."   
  
Dick shrugs. "Global warming," he says, and stands up, going to the cabinet for underwear. He feels Lew's eyes on him and casts a glance over his shoulder, smiling. Lew's pink in the cheeks, like he always gets when he sees Dick casually nude, and Dick is happy to see his lover feeling like himself again.   
  
"I've got class in ten minutes," Lew sighs. "If not for that, I'd ravish you, babe."   
  
Dick smiles wider. "Drive safe," he says, and emerges with a pair of briefs, socks, and jeans. Lew pecks his cheek and scoops up his backpack before leaving. Dick hears the door click shut and sighs, feeling unusually tired and somewhat sore. He pulls on his clothes and picks a shirt from the closet- one of Lew's old band t-shirts and a waffle weave undershirt- and packs up for his own morning classes.

*

Sometime during English he feels a tickle at the back of his throat and excuses himself to get a drink. It doesn't help much and he resolves to ignore it, focusing on the professor's lecture. At lunch he gets tea instead of milk, and he feels Roe's eyes on him as he eats. The med student is painfully perceptive, but he assures him he's fine, that it's just allergies.   
  
"Flu's been going around," Roe retorts. "You take care, alright?"   
  
"Of course," Dick says, and heads off to his next class. He feels fine throughout, but after he's a little tired, and his throat is hurting again. He stops at the pharmacy on the way home, picking up some herbal tea and cold medicine just in case.   
  
When he comes home Lew is there already, bustling about in the kitchen. Since he'd started therapy he'd been taking on new hobbies, actual cooking being a more significant one. Dick's stomach growls at the smell of food filling the apartment and he comes up behind Lew, curling his arms around the boy's waist.   
  
"Hi," says Lew. "Tell me if this pasta's done." He raises a fork to Dick's mouth, and Dick tastes it.   
  
"Hmm..still a little crunchy," he observes, swallowing. "How was therapy?"   
  
"Good," says Lew. "She asked me some stuff about you, how long we've been together."   
  
"Not long enough," Dick hums, kissing behind Lew's ear. "I missed you."   
  
Lew chuckles. "I missed you too. But dinner comes first."   
  
Dick can't object to that. So he takes out the bowls and forks, and they sit down at the couch and eat while the evening news forecasts one more blast of cold through the week, and after they've finished eating and done the dishes Dick lets himself be led into bed with Lew, where they curl up and kiss tenderly until it turns to more. It feels like making up for lost time, for those months when it had gotten to be too much and Lew wouldn't be touched, wouldn't accept the love and affection Dick wanted to give. He is different, now; he'd warned Dick that the bad things are still there, but he seems to be at peace with most of it and welcomes Dick's affections again.   
  
In all of their lovemaking and talking afterwards, Dick had forgotten his sore throat, and he falls asleep without a spare thought given towards the issue.

*

In the morning, though, he blinks awake slowly to see Lew's concerned face.   
  
"Dick?" Lew frowns. "You slept through your alarm."   
  
Dick groans, reaching for his phone, and sees that he's already missed half of his class.   
  
"Christ," he says, and his voice comes out as a hoarse croak, grating badly against his throat. He's sore, his bones feel like they weigh a thousand pounds, and his nose is stuffed.   
  
"You seemed fine last night," Lew murmurs, rubbing Dick's bare shoulder. "Why didn't you say something?"   
  
"Thought I was jus' thirsty," Dick mumbles. "It wasn't like this." He tries to sit up, and falls back with a groan. "Can you get me a tissue?" he asks.   
  
"Course," says Lew, climbing out of bed. He leaves the room, coming back with the cold medicine and a glass of water as well as a box of tissues. Dick groans, and Lew chuckles. "You bought it, not me," he says.   
  
"Tastes gross," Dick whines, but lets Lew sit him up anyway. He drinks the medicine quickly and washes it down right away, grimacing. Lew offers him the tissues and he blows his nose.   
  
"Geez, you sound miserable," Lew says, rubbing Dick's shoulder sympathetically. "Can I get you anything else before I go?"   
  
"Breakfast?" Dick asks, looking up at his lover. "Eggs and ham," he says.   
  
"Sure thing," says Lew. He pulls the blankets up over Dick before disappearing into the kitchen. Dick dozes a bit, gazing out the window sleepily while Lew cooks. It's a testament to how bad he's feeling that he hasn't gotten up and tried to go to class anyway. Lew's skipped days already just because he wanted to, but Dick takes his attendance seriously. He promises himself he'll just take today and Friday off, and by Monday he'll be back.   
  
Lew breaks him out of his reverie. "Eggs and ham," he says, setting a plate on Dick's lap. "I brought orange juice, too." He sets the cup on Dick's bedside table. "Don't worry about the dishes, just set them here and I'll clean up for you when I get back, okay? You need to rest." Lew kisses Dick's cheek. "I have to go now."   
  
"Okay," Dick says, pressing his cheek against Lew's and closing his eyes briefly. "I'll try."   
  
Lew pats Dick's knee and turns to go. Dick tucks into his meal, eating slowly until he's full, and sets everything aside. He lies down again and drifts into sleep.   


*   


Dick wakes again a few hours later. He pulls on his pajamas and goes to the bathroom to relieve himself. He contemplates the shower but decides against it, washing his face in the sink. He's hit with a wave of exhaustion when he straightens and groans, frustrated. Dick hates being sick, yet he's more prone to it than anyone he knows.   
  
Before he returns to bed, he takes an apple from the bowl on the counter. He curls up in bed, emailing his professors about his absences as he nibbles on the apple. There's a few texts from the guys on their group chat, and he opens it to see several "feel better soon" messages and a ridiculous sticker of two dogs hugging from Harry. It earns a smile from him, and he texts back with a simple thank-you.   
  
Dick's slept too much now to slip back into it, so he drags up his laptop and works on homework. Lew would laugh at that, he imagines, tell him homework isn't meant to be done until after you recover, but Dick knows how far behind that would put him. So near to the end of the semester already, that wouldn't benefit anyone.

So he sets to typing until his exhaustion is too strong to ignore.

  
*

On Friday, Dick wakes up feeling even worse. He'd barely been able to sleep, congested and sore and too-hot despite all the medication Lew had pumped into him, but now he's developed a wracking cough and his ears are blocked and sore, too.   
  
Lew isn't the best at caring for other people past bringing him medication and food, and Dick spends the day in bed again, knowing he needs to go to the doctor but too miserable to get up for much more than a bathroom break. He puts on the TV and sleeps most of the day away.

*

Saturday morning comes and Lew drags him out of bed. Dick's woozy and hacking up a lung in the shower as Lew supports him and washes his hair, but Dick's pride flares and he insists on dressing himself, at the very least. Lew escorts him to his car and drives them to the doctor's, where they wait almost an hour to be seen, Dick huddled against Lew's side and his face covered with an embarrassing disposable mask.   
  
Dick walks out with a prescription for his double ear infection and the vague knowledge that "it's not strep throat, but it's a virus of some kind," which he finds incredibly irritating. At least they gave him the pills.   
  
They stop at McDonald's on the way to the pharmacy and Dick asks for chicken nuggets. He nibbles on his fries listlessly out in the car while Lew gets his prescription, and back at home Dick finishes his food and lies down to sleep some more.

*

It isn’t until Tuesday that Dick starts to feel better, and Harry and the guys hoot and holler at his return but sober quickly when he bursts into a coughing fit and nearly falls over with dizziness.

“Jesus, Dick, you should’ve stayed home,” Harry comments, worried. Dick sniffs and rubs his nose.

“I’ve been gone too many days,” he says, voice sounding nasally and rough. “And anyway, Lew’s getting sick of me hogging the bed all day,” he tries for humor, but the guys look concerned more than anything. Still, he makes it through the day alright, collapsing in bed as soon as he’s home with a long sigh. Lew smiles down at him fondly, closing his book and resting a palm on Dick’s head.

“Hi, sleepy,” he says. “Feeling better yet?”

“Tired,” Dick sighs. “But yeah, I actually feel alive today.”

“Good.” Lew bends down, kissing Dick’s temple. “I was gonna order Chinese.”

Dick’s face scrunches up, and Lew laughs.

“I’ll get extra crab rangoon,” he promises, and Dick considers it.

“Okay,” he relents. “I’ll eat it. But I like it better when you cook.”

Lew just smiles, ruffling Dick’s hair and getting up to go order their food.


End file.
